Grieving family receives early Christmas present

Dec. 20, 2012

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Grecia Meza, 7, and mother Eloisa Magaña, center, show their emotions as Santa Claus arrives on a firetruck with a motorcycle escort to the Santa Ana Police Department on Thursday. Grecia's father, Jorge Meza, is at right. At far left is Mothers Against Drunk Driving victim advocate Victoria Maciha. The event was to bring joy to a family who lost a child, Osmara Meza, 5, to a hit-and-run driver. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Santa Claus arrived on a firetruck with a motorcycle escort Thursday to the Santa Ana Police Department bearing gifts for the family of 5-year-old Osmara Meza, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver this year. Santa Ana firefighters and police officers who were touched by the plight of the family have been reaching out to them since the death. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Grecia Meza, 7, wears a pin memorializing her younger sister, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver earlier this year in Santa Ana. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Santa Claus has a hug for Grecia Meza, 7, Thursday at the Santa Ana Police Department where he arrived on a firetruck with a motorcycle escort to bring gifts to Grecia and her parents. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Grecia Meza, 7, has a hug for Santa Ana police Sgt. Richard Shin. He was one of the officers who responded to the scene where her sister, 5-year-old Osmara Meza, was killed by a hit-and-run driver earlier this year. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Grecia Meza, 7, poses for a photo with a large stuffed dog given to her by a group of Santa Ana motor officers who were touched by the plight of the family after her sister was killed. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Grecia Meza, 7, opens presents Thursday at the Santa Ana Police Department. Santa Ana police and firefighters arranged a visit for the family of 5-year-old Osmara Meza, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver this year. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Grecia Meza, 7, and mother Eloisa Magaña, center, show their emotions as Santa Claus arrives on a firetruck with a motorcycle escort to the Santa Ana Police Department on Thursday. Grecia's father, Jorge Meza, is at right. At far left is Mothers Against Drunk Driving victim advocate Victoria Maciha. The event was to bring joy to a family who lost a child, Osmara Meza, 5, to a hit-and-run driver.JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

How to help

The Santa Ana Police Foundation set up a fund to help the Meza family. Checks can be made payable to Santa Ana Police Foundation, 2321 E. Fourth St., Suite C-175, Santa Ana, CA 92705. See sapdf.org/tragedy.

SANTA ANA – Santa Claus arrived on a fire engine, escorted by eight motorcycle officers and two cruisers, bearing gifts on Thursday for a Santa Ana family whose lives changed forever when a hit-and-run driver killed their young daughter.

Osmara Meza, 5, was killed June 23 when the suspected drunken driver struck her, her mother and her sister while they were crossing 17th and Spurgeon streets on their way to breakfast at a restaurant.

The death was one that victim advocates, police and firefighters never forgot. They organized a visit by Santa, complete with donated gifts, to bring cheer to the family, especially Osmara's sister, Grecia, now 7.

"Thanking you for helping me," said Grecia, 7, a second-grader at Hoover Elementary in Santa Ana who likes math and science. She wanted an iPod so that she could listen to the music of her favorite singer, Jenni Rivera.

Jorge Omar Meza, 34, Osmara's dad, said he's on a six-month leave from his job in receiving at La Jolla Group, an Irvine apparel licensing company. He's been caring for his wife, homemaker Eloisa Magaña, 47, who was released from a hospital around Aug. 1. She had been in a coma for six weeks and bears the scar of a tracheotomy. She suffered brain injuries, several broken bones and went home with a feeding tube. She's undergoing physical therapy and continues to improve, though by the end of the event Thursday was visibly limping.

"I'm better," she said, "but I can't hear from this ear," she said, pointing to her right temple. She must eat slowly, because of the pain in her jaw.

"I still cry because I can't see my daughter," Magaña said, "It still hurts, but I'm doing better."

The community effort to brighten the Meza family's Christmas when Victoria Maciha, a victim advocate with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, decided she wanted to do something for Grecia.

"Ten days ago, I woke up and realized that I wanted to make Christmas special for Grecia," said Maciha, who has been working with the family. She reached out on Facebook, and about 40 friends provided gifts. Police and firefighters wanted to help. Orange County Fire Authority firefighter Rommel Laura played Santa Claus, and Battalion Chief Kris Concepcion donned an elf outfit.

"It's amazing that it blossomed this big," Maciha said.

Officer Weston Hadley was among a phalanx of officers who attended the event at the Santa Ana Police Department, helping to carry gifts. Hadley, a father of three, said he felt a personal connection to the family.

"You just can't help to see your own children," the motorcycle officer said. "They're wonderful gifts, and to lose one in such a tragic way is unbearable."

Meza said he thanked God for the help offered by victim advocates and the Santa Ana Police Foundation, which has helped pay rent and other expenses. He's grateful that Grecia, who suffered head trauma, survived.

He said he was happy because Grecia was happy. As the event wound down, she worked her way through gifts, like books, toys and a shiny silver purse, placed before a Christmas tree.

"I don't have my other daughter, but life will go on," he said. "We will have to move forward."

Grecia, he said, talks of her sister each day.

"She says that she misses her, but she's with us, every day, in spirit," he said. "Thank God, she's still a little girl, and she doesn't know a lot about sorrow."

Magaña, though worried about medical and other bills that are piling up, said Thursday's outpouring of support took her by surprise.

"I'm happy because I see my daughter happy, with gifts. We could have never had this, and Santa Claus," said Magaña. "Now my daughter wants to go back to school to say that she saw Santa Claus. I'm happy for my daughter that this has happened."

She said that she wished Osmara had been present, to take part.

"I'm certain she's in heaven, looking at all this with happiness."

As they crossed an intersection at 17th and Spurgeon, police say Jessicah Louise Cowan – traveling westbound on 17th in a silver Lexus – blew through a red light about 11 a.m. and hit all three family members.

Cowan's car either threw or dragged the bodies about 70 feet, police said.

Cowan, 33 when the incident occurred, continued driving, but a woman who witnessed the collision followed her about two blocks, and then cut her off and trapped her at 17th and Main streets. Cowan faces a preliminary hearing in next month on charges of killing Osmara, driving while under the influence and other offenses.

"I wouldn't want anyone to have an accident like this," Magaña said. "When you have children, you don't think they're going to die. No one needs this to happen to them. Least of all, my daughter."

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